The Congress on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was at his “nonsensical worst” while delivering his speech in the Lok Sabha on Monday that the party described as “low-grade”.
While many Congress leaders suggested the Prime Minister read Jawaharlal Nehru, a globally acknowledged intellectual giant, to deepen his own understanding instead of selectively quoting him, others pointed to his “duplicity” on democracy, corruption and development. Some questioned his rant on dynasty that was designed to singularly target the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh posted on X: “The Prime Minister was at his nonsensical worst in the Lok Sabha yesterday and undoubtedly will stage a repeat performance in the Rajya Sabha today. He suffers from deep insecurities and complexes which makes him attack Nehru not politically, but personally, in a vicious manner. Vajpayee and Advani never did this. But Modi being who he is, thinks he is being clever but actually demeans the office he holds. Megalomania and Nehruphobia are a toxic mix that is leading to the Murder Of Democracy in India. The people of India, especially the youth, have decided that this will be Modi’s last speech in Lok Sabha as Prime Minister. ‘Das Saal Anyay Kaal’ will soon come to an end.”
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge confronted Modi on his dynasty jibe, daring him to present one family in the Sangh Parivar who has made such contributions to India’s freedom and nation-building and such supreme sacrifices as the Nehru-Gandhi family. “What legacy do they carry? The RSS people were applying for jobs when the Congress was fighting the British and serving jail terms. Has anybody from RSS-BJP sacrificed his or her life for the country? Has anybody from the Gandhi family become Prime Minister since 1989 when Rajiv Gandhi lost?”
On Modi’s remark that the Congress doesn’t see the “biggest OBC”, Rahul Gandhi said: “It is not about a person being OBC. It is about representation and social justice."
Rahul added: “When we raised the issue of caste census, Modi started saying that there are only two castes — rich and poor. Now he says he is the biggest OBC. While there is a need to change the mentality of looking at big and small, Modi should first decide whether caste is a reality or not. Without a caste census, OBCs, Dalits, and tribal communities cannot be given justice. Modi should not try to divert attention. Why is he so scared of a caste census?”
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said: “Modiji, stop lying about lifting 25 crore people out of poverty. Why is consumption growth only 4.4 per cent if poverty is reduced? Why is your government forced to give free ration to 80 crore people? Why is India falling in the Global Hunger Index? Why are items like soap, oil, shampoo, biscuits —indicators of the rural economy’s health — not selling more? Per capita income growth based on purchasing power is merely 4.3 per cent under your regime which was 6.2 per cent under Manmohan Singh.”
Analysing Modi’s speech, Shrinate said: “You are the Prime Minister. For how long will you enjoy clapping by sycophants on your cheap jibes that petty politicians make? Your speech was low-grade and devoid of any dignity. You are obviously scared of protests by people from Manipur to Ladakh. You look like a tired, cynical and frightened tanashah (autocrat). Spending 78 minutes out of the total 110 minutes to condemn the Congress betrays your fear.”